an american citizen in 2000. she worked in a variety of positions teaching proper nutrition, also being engaged in state and local politics minnesota. that activity led to her election. in 2016. democrat, dean phillips was less than a year old when his father was killed in the vietnam war. his mother married the son of abigail van buren. popularly known for her dear abby advice column. he's not president of the discerning company which has been in the family for over 100 years. ... next the opening of the 116th congress and the u.s. senate. the opening comes on the 13th day of the government shut down. 34 members of the body stood for election and were sworn in. republicans have increased their majority in the senate by two.

bringing their total to 53 members, with 45 democrats and two independents. this official opening session is an hour. >> the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. >> mr. black: let us: pray. eternal god. we honor your name. from you comes the help we need to face life's challenges and setbacks. guide our lawmakers. lead them through the turbulence. to the destination of your choosing. mayol they hold on to your firm hands. finding in your radiance, the ability to transform bitterness,

disappointment and failure into redemptive opportunities. lord, make our senators increasingly the kind of people whom you can use as instruments of your purposes for humanity. bless the incoming senators of this 116th congress with your wisdom and might. we pray in your sovereign name amen. >> mr. pence: please join me in reciting the pledge of ulegiance to the flag. >> i pledge alet mance to the flag ofit the united states of america. and to the republic, which it

stands. -- >> mr. pence: the chair lays before the senate the certificate of election of 33 senators. elected for six-year terms beginning on january 3rd, 2019. one certificate of election to fill an unexpired term, and one certificate of appointment. all certificates the chair is advised -- (gavel) all certificates the chair is advised during the senate or contain all the essential requirements of the form suggested by the senate. if there be no ejection, the

reading of certificates will be waived and they will be printed in full in the records. if the senators to be sworn in will present themselves to the desk in alphabetical order the chairman will administer the oath of office. the clerk will read the names of the first group. >> black burn, brown baldwin, burr aso. >> mr. pence: please raise your right: hand. do you solemnly swear you will support the constitution of the united states against all

enemies. foreign and domestic. that you bear fair truth and allegiance to the same. that you take this obilation freely without any mental evasion, and will faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you're about to enter so help you god? >> i do. congratulations senator. >> thank you. [applause]

>> mr. pence: call the next group? >> the clerk will read the names of the second group. n>> brown, cantwell, cardin, carper.

>> congratulations. [inaudible conversations] >> mr. pence: please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you will support and defend the constitution of the united testates against all enemies foreign and domestic. do you bear truth and allegiance to the same. that you take this obligation freely without any mental reserves or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god?

>> i do. >> congratulations senators. [applause]

>> the clerk will now read the names of the third group. >> casey claimer cruise, feinstein. >> mr. pence: please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and alet mance to the same. that you take this obilation freely without any mental

reservation or purpose of evasion and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senators. [applause]

>> the clerk will read the names of the fourth group. >> fisher gillibrand holy, .einrich >> mr. pence: please raise your thright hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and legions to the same, that you take this obligation freely without mental

reservation or purpose of evasion and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senator. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> the clerk will now read the names of the fifth group. >> hirono cane, king, klobuchar. >> mr. pence: will you please raise your right hand?

do you sommly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign andti domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that you take this obligation freely without knee mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well faand faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senators. [applause] >> thank you. [applause]

>> the clerk will tbhow read the names of the sith group.

>> manchin mcsally menendez, murphy. >> mr. pence: please raise your ntright hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that anyou will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are opportunity enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senator.

[applause] >> thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> mr. pence: the clerk will now read the names of the seventh group. >> romny, rosen, sanders, cinema.

>> mr. pence: will you please raise your right hand? do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitutionpp of the united states against all enemies dforeign and domestic that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senator. >> thank you.

[applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> the senate will be in order. the clerk will now read the names of the eighth group. >> stabenow tester warren menace

please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear you will support and defend the constitution on it united states against all enemies foreign and domestic. that you bear true faith and allegiance to the same. that youak take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon the office you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> the clerk will now read the names of the final group. >> whitehouse, wicker.

>> mr. pence: please raise your rright hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic; that you will bear trueitating and allegiance to thebl same. that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and thatl you will wel and d faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? >> i do. >> congratulations senators. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> the absence of a quorum has been suggested the clerk will call the roll. >> mr. alexander, ms. baldwin, mr. burr aso, mr. bennett, mrs. blackburn, mr. blumenthal,

mr. blunt -- mr. booker, mr. boseman, mr. brawn, mr. brown, mr. burr, ms. cantwell, mrs. capito, mr. cardin, mr. carper, mr. casey, mr. cassidy, ms. collins, mr. coons, mr. cornyn, ms. cortez masto, mr. cotton, mr. kramer, mr. crepe o, mr. cruz, mr. deigns ms. duck worth, mr. durbin, mr. enzi.

mrs. ernst. mrs. feinstein, mrs. fisher. mr. gardener, mrs. gillibrand, mr. graham. mr. grassley, ms. harass, ms. hassan, mr. holly. mr. heinrich, ms. hirono. mr. hoeven, mrs. hide-smith. mr. inhofe, mr. isaacson. mr. johnson, mr. jones, mr. cane, mr. kennedy, mr. king, ms. klobuchar, mr. lankford. mr. leahy, mr. lee, mr. manchin,

mr. marquee, mr. mcconnell, ms. mcsally. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. muran, ms. murkowski, mr. murphy, mrs. murray, mr. paul, mr. perdue, mr. peters, mr. coordinateman. mr. reed, mr. risch, mr. roberts, mr. romney, mrs. rosen, mrs. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders, mr. sasse,

mr. schumer mr. scott, mrs. shaheen, mr. shelby, ms. cinema, mr. smith, ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan mr. chester, mr. mr. mr. toomey, mr. you doll, mr. van hollen, mr. warner, ms. warren, mr. white house, mr. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> mr. young --

>> mr. pence: senate will be in order. a quorum is present under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved and the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak their -- for up to ten minutes each. t >> sen. mcconnell: i ask if we. >> the presiding officer: with s-res. 1. >> informing the president of the united states that a quorum of each house is assembled. >> is there an objection to the measure? >> the senate will.

>> the presiding officer: to the measure. >> the resolution be agreed to, and laid upon there the table with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection. pursuant to senate resolution one, the chair appoints the senator from kentucky, and the senator from new york as a committee to join the committee on the part of the house of representatives to wait upon the president of the united states andit inform them that a quorums assembled and that the congress is ready to receive any communication he may be pleased to make. >> i ask unanimous consent to consider s-res. 2 submitted earlier today. ay>> clerk will report the resolution. >> informing the house of representatives thatfo a qoarm f the senate is assembled. >> mr. pence: is there objection to proceeding to the measure. without objection the senate will. >> the presiding officer: to the measure. >> i ask the motion be

reconsidered laid upon thebe tae with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection. >> sen. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent the s-res. 3 submitted earlier today. >> senate residentlution 3 to elect chuck grassley to be president pro tempore a of the senate of the united states. >> is there objection of proceeding to the measure? >> without objection. >> the senate will. >> i ask unanimous consent with gno intervening action or debat. >> without objection. >> if the senior senator from iowa i will administer the oath of office.

>> good to see you. >> it's an honor. >> please raise your right hand. do you sommly swear you will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic. that you will bear true faith amand allegiance to the same. that you will take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that you will well faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which you are about to enter so help you god? >>nt i do. >> congratulations. [applause] [applause]

[inaudible conversations] >> the president prothem is now invited to preside in the chair. >> [applause] majority leader i ask unanimous consent the senate resident 4, submitted earlier today. >> the clerk will report. >> senate resolution 4 notifying the president of the united states of the election of president pro tempore. >> is there objection to proceeding to the measure?

>> without objection, the senate will. >> the presiding officer: proc. >> i ask the motion be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection. >> i ask unanimous consent the s-res. 5 submitted earlier today. >> the clerk will report. >> senate resolution 5 notifying the house of representatives of the election of a president pro tempore. >> is there objection proceeding to the measure? >> without objection then the senate will proceed. >> i ask you manmous consent be laid upon the table without intervening action or debate. >> without objection. >> i ask unanimous scent the s-res. 6 submitted earlier today. >> the clerk will report. >> senate resolution 6 fixing the hour of the daily meeting of

the senate. >> is there objection to proceeding to the measure? >> without objection then the senate will. >> i skewnanimous consent with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection. >>ti i ask unanimous consent of s-res. 7 submitted earlier today. >> senate resolution 7 to make effective appointment of senate legal counsel. >> is there objection proceeding to the measure? >> without objection, the senate will proceed. >> i ask unanimous consent be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection. >> i skew consent the senate. >> the presiding officer: the enonconsideration of s-res. 8 submitted earlier today. >> the clerk will report. >> senate resolution 8 to make

effective appointment of deputy senate legal counsel. >> is there any objection to proceeding to theer measure? >> without objection then the tsenate will proceed. >> i ask you manmous consent be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. >> without objection? >> mr. president i send to the desk 11 11 you man consent requests, i further ask the scoants be agreed to. that they appear separately before the record. before the chair acts on my request i with would like to point out these requests are row routine and done at the beginning of each congress. >> is there objection to proceeding to the unanimous request on block? >> without objection then so

ordered. >> mr. president i have a resolution at the desk. >> senate resolution 9 fixing the hour of daily meeting of the senate. id>> is there objection proceeding? >> i ask for immediate consideration and to send the resolution over under the rule of -- request. >> objection is heard. >> the objection then -- the resolution will go over under the rule. >> now mr. president as we begin the 116th congress, i'm glad to bewalking back my friends and

returning colleagues to what i hope will be a productive cession. before we get to work i'd like to note the arrival of eight new members who were just sworn in. the senate welcomed marshal blackburn of tennessee mike braun of indiana, josh holy of missouri. marsh a machine sally of arizona. jacky rosen of nevada, and dearesten cinema of arizona. and in the coming days rick scott of florida will join our ranks. i'd like to welcome each of our incoming colleagues as well as their families today you're forming the newest links in a historic chain and continuing the rich traditions of this body in which we are fortunate to serve. on a related note i'm pleased urthe new colleagues and entire senate will continue learning from the example of one of the most loyal stewards of our

traditions. glassily elected as our new president pro tem. so congratulations for the senior center from iowa on this tremendous implement. as we begin this new congress together one fact is abundantly clear. the american people needs democrats and republicans to work together. today illustrates that very point. last november, voters expanded our republican majority here in the senate. but ensure that 60 votes will only be attainable without working across the aisle. and incoming speaker pelosi will be leading a new democrat majority over in the house. this is the landscape in which we'll be operating. fortunately, there record of the 115th congress illustrates how much is possible when both sides make bipartisan collaboration a

priority. our efforts have legislative implements on the american people. we pass landmark legislation to help heal the wounds of the oipped epidemic, we delivered measure tooses help lower prescription drug prices, and expand access to save treatments. we've reached a major agreement to rebuild america's military, and design va reforms that will help our nation better keep our solemn promises to the brave men and women who have served. we brought about bipartisan -- to financial regulations so that fewer of main streets local lenders will be trapped in a maze of wall street's rule book. reasserted a commitment to regular order appropriations. we laid the groundwork for rebuilding american infrastructure. we certainly delivered certainty and predictable to farming communities across our country. so we know that the senate with the republican majority is fertile soil for big bipartisan

qplements. the question is will the newly democrat house join in the good momentum or bring it to a standstill? it's a clear choice and it will be clear to the american peoplep watching all this at home. good governance, or political performance? the public interest or political spite. policymaking or presidential harassment. so mr. president the first assets already upon us just like yesterday i was glad to join house and senate leaders of both parties in a meeting with president trump percent white house to discuss border security and outstanding appropriations. this meeting included a briefing on theng urgent crisis at our southern border, the facts on the ground are truly striking. as the border patrol chief

testified before the judiciary committee a few weeks ago. the border patrol apprehended more than 800 gang members just last year. a 50% increase even the previous year. methamphetamine seizures are up 75% since fiscal 2015. importantly we know in each of our four cbp sectors where physical barriers have been improved or expanded, illegal traffic has dropped by at least -- now listen to this -- 90%. in areas where there are physical barriers. illegal traffic has dropped by 90 percent. these are the facts on which the entire conversation must turn. and yet as yesterday marked the 12th day of this ongoing

partial government shutdown our democratic colleagues seem less concerned with these facts than their unreasonable stand-off with president trump. so for the benefit of all involved let me restate the terms of engagement. in other words, where we are. we need a bicameral, bipartisan, compromise solution. we need an arraignment that can check these three boxes. pass the house, achieve the support of at least 60 senators and get a presidential signature. which is not complicated. that's how you make a law. the legislationon and house democrats reportedly plan to vote on later today is in my view not a serious attempt to check all three of the boxes. in fact, it ignores the bipartisan conference negotiations and progress made on to spending bills over the

last month. so i'll call it political theater, not productive law-making. so i made it clear on several occasions and let me say it again. the senate will not take up any proposal that does not have a real chance of passing this chamber and getting a presidential signature. so let's not waste the time. let's not get off on the wrong foot. with house democrats using their platform to produce political statements rather than serious solutions.pl let's pick up where we left off, and dedicate this 116th congress. to the spirit of bipartisan collaboration to create more victories for the american people. >> mr. president, democrat leader i ask unanimous consent

the quorum be dismissed. >> first mr. president allow me to welcomel all the new members who were sworn in for the first time as well as my friends who were reelected to this body. we are entrust would an awesome responsibility to conduct the vital business of this country we all love. we come at it from many different perspectives and grckgrounds and geographies. but the hope is that we can come together and get some good things done. i hope that in this new year and throughout the new congress the senate will prove ourselves worthy of the responsibility. and faithfully discharge our duties to our states, our country, the constitution, and of course the well-being of the american people. but now sadly, mr. president, as i a address you this new congres isgr under the shadow of government shutdown. only one person is to blame for

this predicament. president trump. democrats made several offers to the president that would keep the government open over the holiday break. we even agreed to leader mcconnell's proposal to pass a clean, continuing resolution to avoid a shut down. and it passed the senate unanimously every single democrat, every single republican was for it. all indications were if president trump would sign it. but then, hounded by the far-right, particularlyhe the radio and tv comment taters, president trump threw a temper tantrum at the 11th hour and demanded more than $5 billion for an ineffective border wall knowing it lacked the votes in the senate. after publicly rooting for a government shoot down for months, president trump finally got his wish.

now, nine cabinet departments, dozens of other agencies are shut down. hundreds of thousands of federal workers are doing their jobs without pay. food safety inspectors are running out of resources. federal courts are running out of money. national parks are suffering. and in a few short months the irs will not be able to issue tax refunds so vital to so many families. so yesterday president trump invited congressional leaders to the white house.ional leaders to speaker pelosi wanted to have a sensible discussion ability reopening the government. we proposed two bills that separated the wall fight from the government shut down. >> the two bills we proposed separate the wall fight from the government shut down. you don't have to have one even if you can't resolve the other. first, a six-bill mini--bus to

provide appropriations for every cabinet department except for homeland security, and second, a 30-day continuing resolution for homeland security. the six bills are not democratic rebills as i heard some of the commentators, the right-wing commentators say. the six bills are the same bills republicans including leader mcconnell supported in the senate appropriations committee. the cr passed unanimously through the house -- through the senate last year. and -- four of the six bills came to the floor. and passed the senate 92-6. the vast majority of democrats and republicans being for them. so these are not democratic bills, they were crafted in a bipartisan way by a republican controlled senate appropriations committee, and a republican a controlled senate. now if these bills passed they'd allow us to continue discussions

on border security, without leaving large portions of the government shut down. now we obviously disagree about the bestus way to secure the border. we believe the wall is wrong on many counts. we believe the wall is ineffective. most experts agree with that. the wall is expensive. the wall was promised, and when promise promised by president trumpes he said it's a campaign pledge he must keep. that was not his campaign pledge. his pledgepa was to build the wl and have mexico pay for it. not american taxpayers. so it's not a campaign pledge. the president has no plan to deal with eminent domain. there are hundreds of landowners on the southern border who will go to court and fight every attempt by the federal government to expropriate their land. that will take years, and by the way, the trump administration

has not even spent the border security allocated by congress last year. so the wall is wrong. ineffective, expensive, mexico doesn't pay for it, has no plan to deal with eminent domain. they haven't spent the border unsecurity funding allocated lat year, and one more point. to so many americans we do not want the wall to be a symbol of america. much preferring the statue of liberty be that symbol. the symbolism is bad for the country, for our economy, security, and ability to get along in the world. so democrats certainly support strong effective border security. fencing, drones, technology, roads, but the experts say actually works, not a wall. we totally disagree on that. but even with that disagreement, mr. president, i repeat, there

is no reason to keep unrelated parts of the government shut down. because ofhu those disagreement. today, if leader mcconnell tonight would put the bill that's passing the house on the floor it would pass. after all it was crafted by republicans. especially those on the appropriations committee. so they're not opposed to it. so, i asked on plupt occasions yesterday at our meeting. i asked the president to give me one good reason why he should keep large portions of the government shut down while we have a separate debate about the border. he couldn't name one. he kept coming back and i said mr. president these six bills have nothing to do with the border. why must we hold? >> millions of americans who depend on the services of these agencies that are closed hins of

thousands ofor workers who get paid by these agencies why must we hold them hostage. why must a temper tantrum determine how we vote? and what happens in this government? everyone can shut down the government on anything. anygo leader, any president, that's not the way to do things. .so the president couldn't namea single reason. that made any sense about why he should keep the other agencies closed, not homeland security but the others. and that is the best indication of why there's a shutdown. president trump is holding the government hostage over his wall. president trump is holding the government hostage over his wall. using the well-being of millions of americans as hostage in a

futile attempt to get what he wants. a concrete border wall. so where do we go from here? >> well, we have a new congress. several new senators were just sworn in. the house of representatives will change control and the democrats will see the healthy majority. the new house majority is poised tonight to pass the two bills we offered the president. the senate republicans, leader mcconnell ought to take it up here on the floor of the senate. let me assembly clear about a few points. the six-bill mini--bus is completely silent on the issue of border security. it would solely fund the eight cabinet departments not named homeland security at levels agreed to by both parties and signed off on by the overwhelming majority of republicans on both the appropriations committee and in the senate.

there is absolutely nothing in those six bills that my republican friends oppose. let me repeat. there is nothing in those six bills that senate republicans oppose, all but six voted for the four of them that came to the floor and every single republican on the appropriations committee including leader f mcconnell voted for them in the appropriations committee. so when leader mcconnell calls this some democratic proposal he's absolutely wrong. leader mcconnell, you voted for it. i leader mcconnell, you supported it. on both the floor and in the appropriations committee. it is not a democratic proposal. in fact, the house democrats went out of their way to pass a proposal that republicans supported. and -- senators graham, and moran, and lankford, murkowski

voted for the bills as chair of their appropriations subcommittees. they put them together. so, even if there are disagreements about border security, why not pass the six non-controversial bipartisan bills? . . . they're asking that of president trump. what's the rationale for keeping eight cabinet departments shuttered for an unrelated dispute over the wall? there is none. we can continue to debate the best way to secure our border. we have disagreements on those. but let us reopen these cabinet departments and ensure hundreds of thousands of federal workers receive their paychecks and, even more importantly, that these departments get back to work for the american people. as i mentioned, the house will

also pass a 30-day continuing resolution for the department of homeland security. continuing resolution for the department od security. again there's nothing in the bill senate republicans don't support. passed before christmas break the only thing that's changed between now and then is that we will have a house speaker who will pass this bill as well and once it passes the two bills, leader mcconnell should put them on the floor where i believe they will receive strong bipartisan majority. it's going to be very hard for republicans to vote no on the same bills they supported just a few months ago. the leader said he is waiting for approval. unfortunately, the white house is all over the map. we don't know where they stand on the either of these things. president trump publicly rejected an offer